Author Archive
Easy Refried Beans (Slow Cooker)
Use as a side dish or as a filling for burritos, these are excellent beans.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams Pinto beans, dry, sorted, and rinsed, (1 lb)
- 1 onion, peeled, cut in half
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1¾ teaspoons black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 8 cups water
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Place the rinsed dry beans, onion, pepper, cumin. and garlic in your slow cooker.
- Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
- Once the beans are cooked, strain them and reserve the liquid, slightly mash, it will not take much, add reserved liquid from cooking for desired consistency. (I like to lightly mash just 2 or 3 cups of beans and mix that in with the remaining drained beans.)
- Serve as a side dish or fill burritos and top with burrito (taco) sauce and loads of grated Cheddar cheese.
Notes
Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
- Cheesy Baked Enchiladas.
- Cheesy Bean Enchilada Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Mexican Tortilla Casserole.
Enchilada Sauce Mix
Finding Enchilada Sauce packets can be a challenge unless one is in a big city. So I checked on the internet and came up with this, works great! This makes the equivalent of what 1 packet makes.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon corriander
- 1½ cups water
- 170 grams tomato paste, this the really small can
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, add all the ingredients and simmer on low heat, and whisk to combine until thickened. Use as recipe requires.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cheesy Baked Enchiladas.
- Best Chicken Enchiladas, made it, GO-TO recipe.
Navy Bean Soup
A slow cooker requires less water than a stockpot. Water condensation forms on the lid of the slow cooker and returns the water back into the pot. To adapt this recipe to a stockpot, use 8 cups of water instead of 6. The final texture of the soup is a matter of preference. Serve it just as it is without pureeing any of it, or purée until completely smooth, or anything in-between I would recommend a least a light purée since the smashed beans help thicken the broth. Crockpots come in all different sizes. A small one wouldn’t be big enough to hold the contents of this recipe. Mine is oblong and measures 11 inches across. I filled it to the brim with the ham bone, beans and vegetables and could only get about 6 1/2 cups of water in. Of course, the ham bone takes up a lot of space but I formulated the recipe for a slow cooker because that’s the way so many folks, including myself, like to cook soups. I prefer my stockpot over my slow cooker if I’m making a batch big enough to feed the county and I need a bigger size cooking vessel than the slow cooker offers.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry Navy Beans, OR Great Northern Beans, soaked overnight and drained
- 1 meaty ham bone, OR one ham hock or pork knuckle
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, including tops, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- handful fresh parsley, trimmed and chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 6-7 cups water
Instructions
- Place ham bone in slow cooker and add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf.
- Add soaked and drained beans. Sprinkle salt over beans. Cover beans with as much water as you can fit in cooker.
- Cook on Low for 12 hours or High for 8 to 10 hours or until beans and vegetables are tender. Add more water if necessary.
- Remove bay leaf and soup bone when soup is done.
- Puree about 1/3 of the soup mixture by using an immersion blender or transferring to a blender or food processor. Or, you can just use a potato masher and mash it around a bit until part of the soup is pureed.
- Remove ham from bone, dice and add back to soup.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Notes
Beans would run about 135 Baht for 500 grams. The ham bone can come from another meal, unrelated to the cost here, or you can add a ham hock or pork knuckle (pork knuckle would be excellent in this dish!) that would add another 100 to 200 Baht. Going with the beans and a ham hock, the total would be 235 Baht. That is about $1.20 per meal per person for 6 people. Not bad at all and nutritious as well. Serve with a corn bread on the side for a complete meal. If you use a ham bone from a previous meal, that reduces the cost a lot.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Garland Davis, US Navy Cook (Ret).
United States.
United States.
Creamy Caesar Dressing
Sounds like a tasty dressing, on my to make and taste list.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Italian dressing, bottled type
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ⅓ cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients with a whisk and refrigerate, use within one week.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Spanish Chorizo
Spanish Chorizo is a firm, drier sausage than Mexican Chorizo. A plate of Chorizo with a couple of sunny side up eggs on top, real hash browns on the side, makes me hungry! I made this on (cooked rather) the Chorizo on 19 Nov 2016, and it is excellent! Even got two thumbs up from my wife! I prepared the Chorizo on 17 Nov. Keep in mind this is not true Spanish Chorizo but a pretty good knock off in my opinion. The chorizo offered in some stores is Thailand will be of the Spanish type.
Ingredients
- 500 grams minced pork, (1 lb)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder, (4 tablespoons US chili powder, 2 tablespoons Thai chili powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, cover and place in the fridge overnight. This photo is after it had been in the fridge for 1 half days, the smell is wonderful.
- Form into patties or just crumble and fry.
- When the Chorizo is cooked, drop in a few eggs.
- Served.
Notes
Minced pork is about 110 Baht per kilo, 500 grams would be 55 Baht. Can easily make 4 servings from this for a cost of 40 cents per serving.
Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
Chorizo Burgers with Cucumber Slaw,
Gouda Chorizo Jalapeno Poppers. Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chorizo Burgers with Cucumber Slaw,
Gouda Chorizo Jalapeno Poppers. Adapted from an internet recipe.
Honey Lime Dressing
Sounds like a good dressing.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup brown mustard
- ¼ cup honey
- 1½ teaspoons sugar, optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons lime juice
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients well, if you have an electric mixer, use that. Cover and chill before serving.
Creamy Chicken with Spring Vegetables
"This is another one of those go-to recipes. Something that I always used to make and have either as a side dish at dinner parties, or as a main course served over rice or boiled potato with a green salad on the side. Easily modified to your liking." -Denise. I made this on 5 Mar 2017, and wow is it good! Big hit with the Thai family as well, Thais like chicken, and they like vegetables, but in a creamy sauce, that was new to them, and they loved it! This is now on my Go-To list. This is a make with what you want recipe. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken, breasts or thighs, skinless, boneless, cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 spring onions, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced, or any vegetables you like
- 100 grams fresh mushrooms
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon chives, chopped, or use the green ends of a spring onion
Instructions
- Brown chicken in a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and drain off excess fat.
- Blanch for about 2 minutes and vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, etc, before adding to the chicken.
- Add spring onions, red pepper, and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. I just used Straw mushrooms when I prepared this. When the vegetables are blanched, drain those and add to the chicken.
- Mix soup with 1 cup of milk and pour over browned chicken and vegetables, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring quite often.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit, add chives and serve over rice or boiled potato.
- My serving with some nice brown rice.
Notes
Chicken breasts will cost about 32 Baht/500 grams. For 3 servings this is about 32 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Grilled Tilapia
Tilapia is a very common freshwater food fish, it grows rapidly, lots of meat, and only a backbone and rib bones, no Y bones in the meat. This is inexpensive, we normally grill 1 fish per 2 people and have a side of just raw cut cabbage, cucumbers and spring onions and fresh cooked rice. We have made this at the house many many times. This recipe is for 1 whole fish for 2 people, more people, just add more fish, if you are a big fish eater, grill two for 2 people.
Equipment
- Grill, Charcoal or Gas
Ingredients
- 1 fish large tilapia, whole
- lemon grass, fresh, several 3 inch pieces, smashed, see Step 2
- ginger, fresh, and 1 inch piece, sliced thin, see Step 2
- Kafir lime leaves, fresh, tear into several pieces, see Step 2
- salt, lot of salt, like a bag of salt, see Step 3
Instructions
- First thing you need to do is clean the fish, NO NEED to scale the fish, the salt will take care of that, just make a slit on the belly of the fish, or side, and remove entrails and wash out with clean water, remove the gills if leaving head on, if you wish to remove the head, no problem, do that now.
- For the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger; if you buy the fish from an open fresh market, many times these will be included with the price of the fish, they are tied together and simply added to the bag with your fish. If you are buying the fish in say, Tesco, then you need these items on hand.
- Stuff the cavity with the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger. Place in a large bowl.
- Now for the salt, regular table salt is fine, if you can locate sea salt, that is fine, the salt is not for a flavoring of the meat, it is to remove the skin, salt is cheap, let the salt do the work, hence the reason not to scale the fish.
- With the bag of salt, generously pour that over the fish in the bowl, you want to cover the fish in salt, spread it around with your hands as well, turn the fish over and repeat on the other side, you cannot have too much, you want the fish to be white.
- With a hot grill, place the fish on the grill and cook about 8-10 minutes or so, then flip the fish over and cook the other side. It will get charred, that is the salt charring.
- Take fish off from grill and place on a plate, at the table, using 2 forks, simply peel off the skin off and enjoy.
Notes
Tilapia runs about 60 Baht per fish, this is Blue Nile Tilapi. This would be $1 per meal per person for 1 fish, if you like fish and eat a whole one, then $2 per person, either way, a very economical meal.
A note about the lemon grass, use several short pieces or one long, piece, either way smash it up good to let the flavor come out, if using a long piece, as in the photos, tie in a over hand knot after smashing.
Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
I make these little meatballs whenever we have guests – mostly when we get together to watch sport or when we’re having a games evening. I serve them with a dipping sauce, try chili garlic sauce (Sriracha sauce). No pricing or measurements are given, how many you make is up to you for the people you have over. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- minced chicken
- 1 onion, diced, if making a lot, use another onion as well
- Parmesan cheese, lots (recommended by Lee), grated
- dry bread crumbs, OR make from a shortcut listed on this site
- garlic, finely minced
- parsley, fresh or dried is up to you
- 1 egg, if making a lot, use another egg
- chili flakes, optional
- ketchup, OR make from a shortcut on this site
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 230 C. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form mixture into balls, size is up to you, and place each meatball on the baking sheet.
- Brush each meatball with ketchup OR chili garlic sauce. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, top each meatball with more cheese and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Enjoy.
Notes
The bulk of the cost is the minced chicken and the Parmesan cheese, you can make a little amount or a large amount, all up to what your intention is. Here is some suggestions:
South Africa.
- Serve as a snack during a sports game on TV, Sriracha chili garlic sauce, or a sweet and sour sauce would be great for dipping.
- Bake but do not add cheese in the last step, just bake for a few more minutes, add to an Alfredo sauce and spoon over pasta of your choice.
- Make a large batch and serve with buttered egg noodles and a vegetable.
South Africa.
Chicken a la King I
"I use this recipe x10 when I go out into the rural areas to feed the under-privileged. Sometimes I use frozen peas and corn as a substitute for the mushrooms, as they can be pricey at times and I obviously don’t use the sherry." These are the words from the author of this recipe. I think she is spot on and this would be hearty wholesome meal.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 100 grams button mushrooms, sliced, or Straw mushrooms, sliced in half lengthwise
- 500 grams chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cubed
- 4 tablespoons Sherry, optional
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup frozen peas and corn, optional
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large heavy-based pot over medium heat, saute the onion until just tender.
- Add the mushrooms and cook without coloring them. Once cooked, remove the mushrooms and onion with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the chicken and red pepper to the pot and cook until the chicken is golden brown, straining off any excess liquid.
- Add the sherry and stock and simmer over a low heat until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the onion and mushroom mixture and stir well, bringing it to the boil, Remove the pot from the heat and finish off by stirring in the cream and tasting for seasoning. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
Notes
Boneless skinless chicken breast will run about 87 Baht per kilo, bone in with skin on will run about 60 Baht per kilo. Get the bone in type and pull the skin off and filet out the bone. Major cost for the meal is the chicken at 30 Baht for 4 servings, add a side dish and this is well under $1 per meal per person.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
